7.  The applicant was born in 1926 and lives in Ashdod, Israel.
8.  On 9 January 1998 the applicant came to Russia to tend to a grave of his close relative. He had on him 1,600 US dollars which he omitted to note on his customs’ declaration.
9.  On the same day the Sochi Customs Office (Сочинская таможня) found the applicant guilty of smuggling foreign currency and imposed on him a fine of an amount equal to the amount smuggled. The money that the applicant had on him was forfeited as the fine. The applicant appealed to a higher customs office and also lodged a civil action with a court.
10.  On 30 July 1999 the Khostinskiy District Court of Sochi gave its judgment. The court quashed the order of the customs office of 9 January 1998 and ordered the treasury of the Russian Federation to repay the applicant 1,600 US dollars “in the form of their equivalent in Russian roubles, i.e. RUR 38,752”. The court dismissed the applicant’s claim for compensation for non-pecuniary damage as having no grounds in the domestic law.
11.  On 9 September 1999 the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld, on the customs office’s appeal, the judgment of 30 July 1999.
12.  On 29 December 1999 and 14 January 2000 the applicant wrote to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation with a request to have the award in his favour enforced in US dollars and not in Russian roubles. He argued that he was an Israeli national and he could not receive any Russian roubles on his bank account in Israel.
13.  On 13 March 2000 the Sochi Town Branch of the Federal Treasury (Отделение федерального казначейства по г. Сочи) advised the applicant that it had received the full amount of the award, but, having been unable to transfer it to the applicant’s bank in Israel, it deposited it in the applicant’s name with the Central office of the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation in Sochi.
14.  In response to the applicant’s letter addressed to President Putin, on 26 April 2000 the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation informed the applicant that on 31 March 2000 it had granted permission to the Sochi Branch of the Federal Treasury to convert the amount of the award into US dollars.
15.  On an unspecified date the applicant asked the court to clarify the operative part of the judgment of 30 July 1999 and amend the method and form of enforcement. He requested the court to order the Federal Treasury to wire 1,600 US dollars to his account in Israel.
16.  On 23 November 2000 the Khostinskiy District Court of Sochi refused the applicant’s request because the Russian rouble was the only legal tender in the Russian Federation. This decision was quashed on the applicant’s appeal by the Krasnodar Regional Court.
17.  On 15 February 2001 the Khostinskiy District Court of Sochi granted the applicant’s request. The court amended the operative part of the judgment of 30 July 1999 and ordered the Federal Treasury of the Russian Federation to transfer 1,600 US dollars to the applicant’s bank account in Israel.
18.  The decision of 15 February 2001 was not appealed against and became final on 1 March 2001.
19.  On 10 April 2001 the Khostinskiy District Court of Sochi issued a writ of execution and sent it to the bailiffs’ service in Moscow.
20.  On 19 June 2001 the writ of execution was received by the 2nd Interdistrict office of court bailiffs of the Central Administrative District of Moscow (2й межрайонный отдел службы судебных приставов по ЦАО г. Москвы), having territorial jurisdiction over the seat of the federal treasury. The applicant was advised of the receipt by phone.
21.  On 14 and 20 January and 20 February 2002 the applicant complained to the Chief Court Bailiff of the Russian Federation (Главный судебный пристав РФ) about non-enforcement of the judgment.
22.  On 28 February 2002 one of the applicant’s complaints was forwarded to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for “taking measures to enforce the court judgment”.
23.  On 7 February 2003 the applicant complained to the president of the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow about non-enforcement of the judgment of 30 July 1999.
24.  On 12 May 2003 the applicant lodged a civil action against the 2nd Interdistrict office of court bailiffs of Moscow, seeking enforcement of the judgment, interest and damages.
25.  On 31 July 2003 a deputy head of the 2nd Interdistrict office of court bailiffs of Moscow submitted his observations on the applicant’s complaint. He denied that his service had received any documents from the applicant between 2000 and 2003.
26.  By a letter of 6 January 2004, a deputy Chief Court Bailiff of Moscow informed the court that the Moscow bailiffs had received the writ of execution on 19 June 2001 and immediately forwarded it to the 2nd interdistrict office. On 30 October 2001 the 2nd interdistrict office had sent it to the court bailiffs of Sochi and since that time the Moscow bailiffs had no information about the whereabouts of the document.
27.  On 26 April 2004 the hearing was adjourned until 31 May 2004 because the applicant’s lawyer failed to appear.
28.  On 1 June 2004 the court granted the applicant’s request to join the Ministry of Finance as a co-defendant and adjourned the hearing until 10 June 2004.
29.  On 10 June 2004 the court received a letter from Ms Zhenina, the applicant’s lawyer, informing it that the applicant had revoked her power of attorney. The court adjourned the hearing until 12 July 2004 and requested the applicant to confirm the revocation.
30.  On 12 July 2004 the proceedings were adjourned until 25 August 2004 because the parties did not appear.
31.  It appears that the proceedings are now pending and the judgment of 30 July 1999, as amended on 15 February 2001, is not yet enforced.